


予期せぬ愛

by 127ghouls



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst? IDK her, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Mangaka!Jaehyun, Romance, Taeyong is an orphan :(, Younger!Taeyong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-16 10:59:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14810069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/127ghouls/pseuds/127ghouls
Summary: jaehyun is a mangaka suffering from writer's block and finds a homeless boy curled up at his doorstep one stormy night.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know much how being a professional mangaka works in Japan so :( This is my first time attempting to write a fic without a single explicit scene LMAO excuse my errors!
> 
> I will update as soon as I can.

It’s a little past midnight when Jaehyun decides that two pages of illustration are enough. He’s been suffering from writer’s block and to be able to draw two pages of his potential main character for a new project is already a miracle. He puts aside his drawing materials and cleans up his desk before turning his lamp off to head to bed, completely forgetting to eat his dinner.

He spends half an hour twisting and turning, trying to find the perfect position to fall asleep when he realizes that he’s not going to succumb to slumber anytime soon. He sits up and kicks off his blanket; a sigh escaping his lips when the exhaustion seeps through his bones but won’t let him take a rest.

Jaehyun has been feeling this way for quite some time now – when things don’t go his way, specifically when he produces nothing yet he still manages to feel extremely tired. Maybe it’s because of overthinking. He’s tired of thinking about the lack of story in his head, his two brain cells slowly dying trying to come up with a good plot or a character at least. It’s hard to draw when you do not have anything to rely on. The agency he’s working for has already given him a deadline and if he fails to submit at least one chapter of his own story, the team is going to drop him and look for another mangaka. A mangaka that is nothing like him.

Being a mangaka has been Jaehyun’s dream since he was little when he got his first volume of Inuyasha. He was 9 years old that time and it was his first time hearing about mangas and animes. Inuyasha got him so hooked that he begged his parents to gift him the complete set of volumes.

Since then, Jaehyun practiced almost every day drawing the characters in the manga. He even enrolled in an art class when he got older. His family accepted his passion and supported him all the way until he graduated in college and pursued such career.

He was once one of the best interns and eventually professional mangaka in the agency he’s currently a part of. The workload wasn’t that bad but due to a management problem the agency lost some of their illustrators and writers and the workload of the remaining members inevitably doubled. Jaehyun was promoted to a higher position and from being merely an illustrator he was given a chance to produce his own story.

Pit-a-Pat Kitty Cat is a short oneshot about a little girl who’s really lazy and wished upon a falling star that she turn into a cat so that she won’t do household chores anymore and just sleep whenever she wants. The little girl woke up the next day with four legs and thick fur, words molded into a series of soft meows. The main character had to do a list of good deeds given by a supernatural being before she could turn back to her original form. Pit-a-pat Kitty Cat was a success and children, as well as teenage girls bought copies of the manga.

The agency took pride in the said manga’s success that they encouraged Jaehyun to try a deeper and a bigger story that will be published in at least three to five volumes. Jaehyun, still high from the recognition that time accepted the challenge without a second thought, not knowing it was too early for a newbie like him to venture into a bigger project.

Due to the pressure from the lack of members in the small agency and high expectations from his superiors, Jaehyun fails to be productive instead of the other way around. He’s so focused on trying to surpass Pit-a-Pat Kitty Cat and please his family and colleagues that he forgot to ask himself what he really wants. He’s too eager to climb to the top of the success ladder that instead of producing quality content, he ends up crumpling papers and piling them in the trash bin because nothing is good enough for him.

The agency is relying on him so much and there are new aspiring mangakas that might replace him if he doesn’t give them the first chapter of his project. If he fails to finish the chapter (he doesn’t even have characters yet and there are only two weeks left before the said deadline), they will put him back as an illustrator for someone else. Worst case scenario is he will be kicked out of the agency if the management doesn’t take pity on him.

Honestly, Jaehyun thinks that’s so unfair to him. The agency is clearly using his success from the oneshot manga and pressuring him to produce another just to keep their name in the limelight. Jaehyun thinks of resigning and looking for another agency or perhaps, start on his own but that’s too hard.

There are other possible reasons as to why he’s having a hard time aside from the pressure and high expectations. Jaehyun considers changing his drawing style. He’s also considering going out of his apartment and stay in a different environment that might give him an inspiration. He doesn’t want to keep drawing cute animals and children. He wants to try drawing more mature characters.

The influx of thoughts keeps Jaehyun up until the early hours of the morning, sleep completely pushed aside. If he doesn’t do something, anything, he’s going to disappoint a lot of people, especially himself. Jaehyun knows that his family supports his profession but never dismissed the idea of him changing careers. In fact, they’ve always wanted him to be one of them – either a doctor or a lawyer. They’re just too nice that Jaehyun being a mangaka is never a problem but as much as possible, he doesn’t want to let them down because of his failure to be creative.

 

 

 

“How’s your story? Are you working on it?” Yuta, an illustrator who works for a writer in the same agency stops by Jaehyun’s desk with a cup of coffee in his hand. Jaehyun doesn’t really make a lot of friends but Yuta was persistent when he first came into the agency and Jaehyun thought the other was an okay person so he gave in.

“Are you going to tell the superiors if I say I literally have nothing in my folder right now.” Jaehyun stops tapping the end of his pencil on the desk and looks up at Yuta. The other sighs obnoxiously.

“I gossip a lot but I’m not a snitch. So what if you have nothing on you at the moment? You still have like – what, 13 days to think of something. It will come to you; don’t be too harsh on yourself.” Yuta’s smile is blinding but Jaehyun doesn’t look away.

“You mean to say, I have 13 days to finish a chapter. They’re expecting materials right now but what they don’t know is I don’t even have a single line drawn on a paper. Be in my shoes.”

“No thanks, I’m fine with my work. I’ll just support you in any way I can.”

Jaehyun shakes his head and stares at the blank monitor of his computer.

“You’re only in your early twenties, Jaehyun. You have a lot of time in your hands. Not all of us can be creative all the time. Even me, sometimes I don’t have the energy and will to draw Mr. Saito’s heroes over and over because that’s life. We aren’t robots. They won’t kick you out, I swear.”

Yuta finishes his coffee and disposes the paper cup. “Look around you and maybe you’ll find an inspiration. Just be open to a lot of things and don’t limit yourself to one idea.”

 

 

 

Jaehyun finds himself in a park two days later. He came up with a potential plot the night before and is too scared to lose the motivation so right now, he’s sitting on a bench with a sketchpad on his lap, a pencil on one hand and other drawing materials in a backpack next to him.

The plot is simple but nothing close to Pit-a-Pat Kitty Cat. The plot has a slice of life theme that’s why Jaehyun thought going to a park where he’s surrounded by different kinds of people will be of help.

At least that’s what he thought.

The noises are distracting him. There’s a baby crying out loud nearby, a group of kids yelling and running around, dogs barking (don’t get him wrong, he likes animals) and a couple fighting a few feet away from him.

This is what he intends to write; the different scenario of everyday living but for some reason Jaehyun is pissed. He cannot concentrate and the image in his head is fading every second that passes.

_This won’t work._

Jaehyun packs up and goes home with a blank paper.

 

 

 

It’s 8 in the evening and the rain doesn’t want to stop. It’s been pouring the whole day and the hopeless mangaka crosses out the plan of visiting a café. He dismissed the slice of life idea and wanted to focus on slow burn romance between a barista and a customer. The characterization is shallow and Jaehyun knows it but he plans on making up on the story. He can just add problems here and there among the characters that can keep the story going for several chapters.

It’s not a bad idea. At least he has something to work on, Yuta said.

Since he couldn’t drop by at the nearest café, Jaehyun ended up watching random videos and viewing photos of coffee shops on the internet. It helped a little, gave him a certain vibe for his story as well as his main characters.

The thunder claps and Jaehyun jumps a little off his seat. He hates the rain since he was little. He remembers playing in his room when the electricity got cut off and he couldn’t see anything. He cried and called for his mom but the door was closed and they could barely hear him in the middle of thunders roaring and rain hitting the ground. The electricity went back a minute or two later and his mother found him curled up in a fetal position on the floor with tears running down his chubby cheeks.

Jaehyun shakes the memory out of his head and holds his pencil again. He looks back and forth between the picture of a coffee shop on the monitor of his laptop and its replica on his sketchpad when he hears faint knocks on the door.

He tries to ignore the sound, thinking it’s just his mind playing tricks on him. He isn’t expecting a visitor.

He goes back to drawing the tables and chairs when another series of knocks are heard.

“Damn it. When am I getting some peace?” Jaehyun slams the pencil down and gets off the floor. He prepares a litany of cuss to shoo whoever is bothering him in such a stormy night when he catches sight of an unorthodox scene at his doorstep.

A drenched boy is curled up on the floor wearing an oversized plain shirt that’s sticking to him like second skin. The boy’s hair is as wet as his whole body and one arm is wrapped around his thin frame while the other hand is caught in the air, probably about to land a few more knocks.

Jaehyun stares incredulously before he finds the right words to say. “What the actual fuck?”

_Right. Those are the right words to say to someone obviously in need of help._

The boy opens his mouth but nothing comes out before he collapses, losing consciousness at Jaehyun’s dirty doorstep.

“What the – hey!” Jaehyun crouches to pick up the stranger. He has no choice but to take him in and wipe him dry. The boy’s skin is hot so Jaehyun assumes said boy is sick.

Jaehyun places the unconscious body on his leather couch, frowning at the realization that he has to wipe that dry later as well, and runs to his room to bet a change of clothes and a bath towel.

“Uh, well, I’m sorry I have to do this if I don’t want you to die.” With warm cheeks and shaky hands, Jaehyun carefully peels off the boy’s clothes, avoiding looking at that area in between the boy’s legs before he wipes down the stranger’s skin, drying him up as much as he can before Jaehyun puts the clothes on him. A smaller towel is wrapped around the boy’s hair because Jaehyun doesn’t have a hair dryer.

After making sure the boy’s not getting a higher fever, Jaehyun lets his butt hit the floor and stares at the stranger sleeping on his (now dry) couch.

“What the hell just happened.” Jaehyun glances at his door before bringing his gaze back to the boy. The boy looks young, maybe a teen. He wonders what happened and where the boy came from to be that soaked in the rain and collapse on the ground. The boy’s face is marred with apparent exhaustion.

_He’s surely not from here. He wouldn’t be knocking at a random house if he’s familiar._

Jaehyun doesn’t think the boy’s dangerous judging from how weak he looks so the mangaka goes back to his task, deciding that he’ll just talk to the boy tomorrow when he wakes up.

 

 

 

The alarm blares through the early morning and Jaehyun harshly hits the poor small clock to make it stop. He twists around his bed, stretching and dreading about the tasks waiting for him when he remembers the stranger in the living room and Jaehyun quickly tears himself off his bed to check up on the boy.

He finds the couch empty, blanket carelessly thrown on the floor when he hears a little commotion coming from the kitchen so he goes there, expecting to see the boy from last night.

Jaehyun shrieks at the sight and forgets what he was going to say when he sees the boy reaching for the cupboard (the boy is significantly short), the sweater riding up and exposing bare thighs.

He remembers putting clean shorts on him.

“Where the hell are your shorts?!” Jaehyun puts his hands over his eyes and peeks through the gaps between his fingers. He’s blushing and he can’t help it – the boy looks really cute in his sweater.

The other turns around, holding a mug and flashes a wide smile.

“I don’t like wearing shorts so I put it in the laundry basket! Uh, do you have hot choco? I can’t reach the cupboard…”

The boy has the audacity to pout while looking like THAT and Jaehyun almost punches himself when his eyes travel down the tiny boy’s legs. _Wow, they’re flawless._

“Hello? Hot choco?” The boy walks up to Jaehyun and waves in front of his face before giggling. _Oh gosh, that’s so cute. Do it again._

Jaehyun finally puts his hands down and hands the container of chocolate powder to the bouncy boy, his eyes finding their way once again to the smooth legs.

Fuck. Jaehyun is fucked.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally planned for this to just be 3 chapters but it seems like it will be more than that. I don't know, we'll see dhfksfhk. Enjoy reading!

It’s been three hours and Jaehyun still can’t concentrate on finishing his illustration. There may be several reasons he can think of, the usual ones that prevent him from focusing on his work but the only thing reasonable right now is the presence of a certain boy sitting next to him, watching whatever he’s doing and being the little distraction that he is.

“That’s really cute!”

“How can you draw so well? Waa…”

“Why are you using different pencils? That one is still working, don’t waste pencils!”

“Okay, can you please teach me how to draw?”

Jaehyun’s nostrils are flaring and if you’d look closely you’d see fumes coming out of his nose. This boy, whose name is Taeyong (they had a little introduction earlier) just can’t understand the concept of privacy and personal space. The tiny boy just entered his life but is already ruining the peace and quiet of his routinely activities by being nosy, touching everything that interests him, following Jaehyun here and there – he even attempted getting inside the bathroom when Jaehyun got in to take his shower! – and asking all the questions under the sun and Jaehyun is running out of patience.

“What is that person holding in the dra-“

“Alright can you please shut up for a second. Please?” The mangaka slams his pencil down and faces the stranger next to him whose eyes are now wide and lips parted, showcasing confusion and surprise.

“You’re being very distracting right now. If you don’t wanna go back to where you came from, can you please be quiet and let me finish my work? OR at least….put some damn shorts on? You may not ask me but I’m trying to keep my job because I can’t afford to go broke. Understand? Thank you.”

Taeyong closes his mouth and nods slowly as he keeps still on his spot beside Jaehyun. The boy is now quiet but Jaehyun can feel the stolen glances. Maybe he’s been harsh on the other but Jaehyun is frustrated at the moment. It seems like he lost the motivation once again and is now uncertain about the supposed slow burn plot he came up with.

He didn’t finish the sketch of the café he was working on last night and when he tried to continue it earlier, he suddenly realized that he’s basically plagiarizing its image from trying to copy the picture on the internet. He ended up thinking of what his own café would look like but as expected, what happened is he filled the trash bin with crumpled papers of unsatisfactory sketches.

Jaehyun doesn’t really know what to do anymore. He’s down to less than two weeks and one chapter requires at least 20 pages. If he ever thinks of something good enough that will surely pass his superior’s taste, he’s not sure if he wants to sacrifice meals and sleep just to finish a goddamned chapter.

He knows he’s doomed and he can already hear his superior’s apologies when they decide to fire him for his lack of implausible performance. Again, it’s not Jaehyun’s fault his first ever work boomed so easily and fueled the agency’s ego that he’s now getting the short end of the stick. He wanted success, but he didn’t ask for this.

“You should think of what makes you happy.”

Jaehyun throws another paper in the bin and faces the source of the voice – a shy looking Taeyong. He still finds it hard to look at the boy without glancing at the pair of pretty thighs. What can he do, he’s just a man who can appreciate the beauty of things.

Did he just imply that Taeyong is beautiful? Perhaps he did!

“It will be really hard to do something that you don’t want to do.” Taeyong puts the empty mug away and props his forearms on the table to pillow his head. “Do you like coffee shops? Think of what you like, you can start there.”

Jaehyun stares at his blank sketchpad and ponders over the boy’s words. What does he like? Why did the public like Pit-a-Pat Kitty Cat? Well, cats are cute, that’s a given. But what did he do to make it even more special?

He rakes his brain for something that interests him at the moment and he groans when he came up with nothing. There’s nothing that peaked his excitement for the past weeks, months.

“Don’t stress yourself. Whatever you want, it will eventually come to you. You’ve worked hard today, Jaejae.”

Taeyong grins and tugs on Jaehyun’s sleeve. “I can call you that, right? Because we’re friends now and will stay that way since we’re living together.”

Jaehyun almost chokes at nothing. Is his hearing malfunctioning? Did the boy really welcome himself in Jaehyun’s apartment and implied that he’s staying here from now on?

“Wait, hold up. You didn’t tell me where you came from and why you decided it was okay to knock on my door all drenched and having a fever. Care to tell me what’s going on? Because – I can’t just let you in without having an idea about who you are. What if you’re a killer trying to act cute and you will bludgeon me later to steal all my belongings?”

Taeyong has the audacity to pout after that. Jaehyun can feel himself near his end.

“That’s mean! I’m not going to hurt you, okay? Do I look like a killer to you? I’m a child!”

“Huh. You’re a grown boy. You’re far from being a kid. So stubborn, must be why your parents kicked you out.”

Jaehyun receives nothing after that. Taeyong is looking down on his hands and there’s a series of sniffles before the older realizes what’s happening.

“Uh, are you crying? I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry…?”

Taeyong shakes his head and wipes at his eyes before playing with the loose thread on the hem of his (Jaehyun’s) sweater. His voice trembles when he speaks again.

“I r-ran away. They said I’m not young anymore and t-they can’t keep me any longer. The ladies from the orphanage said no one is going to adopt me because I’m old and…and I lost hope of finding a family and I’m scared that they will kick me out one day so I just escaped without them knowing and ran away. I…I actually don’t know this place. I tried the other houses but they didn’t let me in. Why would they let me in? Then I felt so weak and I couldn’t take it anymore and somehow ended up at your doorstep. I’m really sorry, Jaejae. I just wanted a place to rest…”

He’s dumbstruck to say the least. Taeyong is an orphan and the orphanage, the place that was supposed to take care of him and give him the love that was selfishly taken away from him, doesn’t want him anymore.

Then it means Jaehyun has no one to contact so he could bring Taeyong back to them.

He looks at the orphan once again and feels his heart break at the sight. Taeyong’s tears won’t stop falling and he looks so utterly helpless. Who is Jaehyun to turn him away? Who is he to deny Taeyong of a place to stay, food to eat and someone he could lean on when Jaehyun is fully capable of providing those? Taeyong may be a complete stranger but he doesn’t seem like he’d lie about something like this.

This is so sudden and Jaehyun asked for an inspiration for his next manga, not a boy to take care of but the idea of keeping Taeyong doesn’t sound so bad to him. It’s odd and surprising, but not bad.

“If that’s the case…then, would you like to stay for a while? I mean…I’m not that heartless to shun you. But I’m a really busy person as you can see and all I want is peace and quiet. Can you give me that, at least?”

Taeyong looks at him with watery eyes and trembling lips that Jaehyun can’t help but think they’re pretty and thin and kissable-

-okay, shut up.

“Thank you so much, Jaejae! Thank you thank you thank you! I promise I won’t be a nuisance, I promise! I can clean the house and I know how to wash clothes! But I don’t know how to cook, sorry!”

Jaehyun feels his cheeks heat up at the way Taeyong is hugging him, with the boy’s thin arms wrapped around his waist and face pressed against his chest. He can feel the warmth of Taeyong’s breath seep through his shirt and hit his skin.

He gently pries out of the hold and flashes an awkward smile. “N-no problem, Taeyong. Uh, one more thing. Can you please wear clothes properly?”

The boy hums and picks up the mug before heading to the kitchen, hips swaying while walking and Jaehyun won’t lie. He’s watching those hips.

“Taeyong? I asked-“

“No! I don’t like pants!”

There goes Jaehyun’s first world problem.

 

 

 

Allowing the boy to stay with him comes with consequences that Jaehyun didn’t really think of. For example, having to tell Yuta without the other freaking out. That’s impossible.

“What! Are you sure he’s not a thief? A murderer? Jaehyun, what were you thinking?” Yuta crosses his arms, waiting for Jaehyun’s explanation. The office is busy as ever but Yuta claimed he’s done with the illustrations he’s tasked to do and Jaehyun is pretending to put colors on a blank drawing on his computer.

“Somehow, I trust him. He looked so pitiful when he cried, Yuta. I’m still giving him the benefit of the doubt, though. He might just be a good actor for all I know. If I come home later and I don’t see him and I’m missing a few things, well I’m done for.”

“Yeah, sucks for you. You should’ve called the police? That’s what sane people do when they find strays and contact their owners.”

Jaehyun doesn’t know why he’s suddenly pissed at Yuta so to avoid confrontations, he just continued coloring - pretending to color to be exact.

“Taeyong is not a stray.”

“So you’re already on a stage where you call each other given names. That’s fast.”

Jaehyun rolls his eyes and presses a few buttons on the keyboard. “What are you trying to say.”

He’s not planning to look at Yuta but he can sense the knowing grin on the other’s face when the illustrator speaks again.

“Is it because he’s cute? What does he look like? He’s your type, isn’t he?”

The color on his cheeks gives it away and Yuta’s holding in his laughter, trying not to call unwanted attention from the other mangakas.

“I knew it! I knew it, Jaehyun. Oh my god, you’re thirsting for this orphan boy!”

Jaehyun throws a ruler at Yuta and it hits the other man’s face. Huh, serves him right. “Can you please be quiet? You’re making it sound so wrong, fuckface.”

“It may sound wrong, but does it feel like it?”

Jaehyun swears to the heavens that he’s going to punch Yuta in his guts soon if he doesn’t stop. He didn’t ask to be exposed like this.

 

 

 

“I’m home.”

The living room is dark when he comes back. He expected to find Taeyong making a mess in his apartment judging from how nosy the boy is. Everything is in place when he switches the lights on and when he goes to check for the boy in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and everywhere else, he doesn’t find a single trace.

Did Taeyong leave? Is Yuta right about the boy being a thief? But nothing is missing.

He’s about to go out to look for the other when the door opens, revealing a very giggly Taeyong, now wearing another oversized sweater that reaches the middle of his thighs. Jaehyun bets there’s nothing underneath.

“Where have you been? Did I tell you to go without me knowing where you’ll be?” He knows he doesn’t have the right to be mad at Taeyong now since he doesn’t own him, he’s nobody to Taeyong, just the owner of the apartment the boy’s temporarily staying at but Taeyong is his responsibility now. If something happens to the boy, he’s blaming no one but himself.

“I don’t have a phone to call you, Jaejae.” The giggles are replaced with a pout and maybe Taeyong knows it’s Jaehyun’s weakness that’s why the boy is doing it a lot.

“Okay, fine. I was just worried. Where did you go?”

Taeyong drops himself on the couch and hugs a pillow. “I was bored so I went out for a while to play with the dogs at the park. They were so cute! I wanted to bring one home but they have owners. I wish I had a dog too. Can we buy a dog, Jaejae?”

There’s an ache starting to form in Jaehyun’s head but he wills it away. He doesn’t really want to raise his voice now and risk scaring Taeyong again.

“I don’t know if I can take care of a dog right now, Taeyong. I’m busy, I told you.”

“I will take care of him! Or her! Jaejae, please?” Taeyong bounces his way to Jaehyun’s side and clings on the older’s arm.

_Your cuteness is going to be the death of me someday._

“…This weekend. We’ll go to a pet shop.”

Shrills of _yes_ and _thank you_ fill the whole apartment and Jaehyun should be regretting his decision right now but seeing Taeyong giggling once again makes the thought of taking his words back dissipate. He’s such a weakling for the boy he just met.

Which reminds him that maybe he should tell his parents about Taeyong. But what if they go against it and force him to take Taeyong to the police station? The boy clearly doesn’t want to go back to the orphanage and what if the ladies he talked about punish him for running away?

Then he won’t tell another soul aside from Yuta. He’s going to keep Taeyong a secret as much as possible. No one really has to know about it anyway since his parents don’t come over and he doesn’t let his co-workers drop by.

Is Jaehyun even aware of his growing possessiveness over Taeyong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to update again soon! Thanks for reading!


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